Today, Levi’s released the findings of a global study to better understand the challenges, expectations, goals and experiences Millennial women face around the world. The results show a surprising generational shift in life priorities and a need for a new, nontraditional form of mentorship.Key highlights from the Levi’s Shaping a New Future study include:

Ninety-six percent of Millennial women worldwide list “being independent” as their most important life goal.

Meanwhile, 87 percent of women surveyed defined success as “being able to shape their future.”

Last on Millennials’ priority list? Marriage and other more traditional pursuits – being a mother (68 percent), getting married (50 percent) and being wealthy (43 percent), were seen as far less essential in defining success.

Not only are Millennial women reshaping what success looks like, they’re changing the way they reach their goals as well. More than half (58 percent) of women worldwide “do not have a definite plan to achieve their long-term goals.” This lack of a “life plan” is precisely what Millennial women seem to relish – and perhaps what makes previous generations so nervous, leading to accusations of Millennials extending childhood into their twenties.

While these women are independent and focused on carving their own path in life, they are also actively looking for mentorship. But these Millennials view mentorship differently and now they are reinventing it: rather than a one-to-one, inter-generational passing of advice, they prefer to engage with their peers and other women of all ages and in different parts of the world who have experiences in their areas of interest.

While they might not desire a prescribed path, Millennial women do express a need for perspective from other women. To that end, they are re-imagining traditional mentorship – transforming it into a communal exchange that’s two-way rather than one-way, shared among many women rather than one-on-one.

In fact, 94 percent of Millennial women agree that “the best mentors are people you can both give advice to and receive advice from.” In addition, 88 percent agree that “a mentor is someone who helps them shape their future, regardless of their age or professional experience,” and 77 percent say that “mentors can be someone their own age.”

“For many Millennial women, the expected path or ‘ladder’ towards adulthood – which included milestones such as school, career, marriage and motherhood – to be achieved in that order, has blurred,” said Lindsey Pollak, Millennial expert, bestselling author and lead collaborator on the Levi’s Shaping a New Future study. “In its place is a web of opportunities that Millennials sample throughout their twenties, representing a different approach from previous generations. These women are challenging long-held beliefs about success as they navigate a complex world. The Levi’s Shaping a New Future study shows that women in their 20s are experiencing a world unlike women of previous generations.The Levi’s “Shaping a New Future: Women Navigating Adulthood in a New Millennium” study was managed by StrategyOne, an applied-research consulting firm. StrategyOne conducted a rigorous, two-phase study to provide projectable, reliable insights to form an understanding of Millennial women’s perceptions of this important juncture of their lives.

Zooey Deschanel, one of the twenty inspiring Millennial “ambassadors”, engaged by Levi’s, speaks about how collaboration springs confidence and the making of She & Him